Results / GUL RS RACING CIRCUIT MUMBLES YC - 14/07/2001

GUL RS400 Racing Circuit at Mumbles YC - July 14/15 The GUL RS400 Racing Circuit visited Wales this weekend - with light winds & rain forecast the turnout was unusually low after the huge turnouts at Lee on Solent, Torquay and Weymouth. The weatherman was wrong and the racing was held in force 3- 5 breezes, sunshine also helped keep a smile on everyone's faces! On Saturday, it looked like it was going to be a long day in the bar as the wind span in circles until at 2.30pm a force 3 appeared from nowhere. The wind though was from the North west coming straight off the hills of Swansea and was pretty unstable leading to some massive place changes downwind. The wind did slowly build during the day giving some good bursts of performance downwind. The Race Officer did a good job in getting three races in and it was a very happy fleet who left the water in the early evening struggling to believe such a turn around in the weather. Nick Craig/Richard Brown, sailing together for the first time won all three races on Saturday, though the wins were all pretty close. GUL Circuit leaders Craig Burlton/Andrew Bonsey were unlucky not to win the last race - they led all the way round but tried to hold the kite on the tight reach into the finish only to have to perform a rapid drop to lay the finish line allowing Craig/Brown to just get over the top of them. A typically consistent score of 5,2,2 put them in 2nd place overnight. Chris Jennings/Ed Nicklin have had a topsy-turvy season but returned to the consistency for which they are renowned with a solid 3,3,5. National Champions Roger Gilbert/James Stewart had some shocking 1st beats but showed their pace to stage some impressive comebacks and still be in the running with 2,6,3. New to the class, Chris Hogan/Neil Hughston led race 2 for a couple of laps but eventually lost out downwind to their more experienced rivals to finish 5th. Sunday dawned with clear blue skies and almost no wind. Just when everyone thought the 10.30 start would be delayed, giving them a chance to recover from visiting a dodgy Swansea nightclub in the early hours, a force 3 from the North west rapidly filled in again. Although the wind remained at this strength all day there were massive shifts and holes giving everyone a snakes and ladders day; everyone could safely say they saw every part of the fleet, often in the same race. A massive shift right in the opening race made for a procession race with a 1 tack beat. Greg O'Brien/John Blundell enjoyed this as they took an early lead on the 1st run, which was a close reach, and then were the only boat to have clear wind on the beats! Craig/Brown moved through to 2nd on the last run to just beat rivals Jennings/Nicklin and Burlton/Bonsey, whilst Gilbert/Stewart had to sit out as their main fell down up the 1st beat! After several general recalls, race 2 saw Gilbert/Stewart open up an early lead but it was clearly not their weekend as a huge shift on the 1st run dumped them 15 places. Burlton/Bonsey came planing in from the left corner to take 10 places and the lead with huge grins! A close battle between them and Craig/Brown and Jennings/Nicklin saw Craig/Brown pick up a big gust downwind to win and seal the event with a race to spare. Jennings/Nicklin just squeezed into 2nd ahead of Burlton/Bonsey. Gilbert/Stewart returned to form in the last race by leading from start to finish. A force 5-6 blasted in on the last run during which Jennings/Nicklin picked up 3 places to finish 3rd, just 2 boatlengths behind Burlton/Bonsey, which would have got them 2nd overall. Just to rub things in Craig/Brown swapped over for the last race and Brown impressed many by finishing 4th despite Craig performing the slowest ever kite hoist in front of the whole fleet! Ex-Laser sailors Jason Pyke/Ian Gregory won best improvers with 6th overall and are going to be strong contenders in the future - they are already among the quickest upwind and are improving fast downwind. Phil Jackson/Gerard Barron had their best Circuit event yet with a 5th place - lots of training and a new boat have paid off for them. With just 1 event left on the GUL RS400 Racing Circuit, Burlton/Bonsey almost have it in the bag with a 3 point lead over Gilbert/Stewart. Third to Eighth overall is wide open and positions could still change significantly at Halfway YC. With the GUL Nationals just 3 weeks away, Gilbert and Stewart must be hoping in a change of fortune. Nick Craig will miss the Nationals, competing in the OK Worlds in Sweden but there are plenty of quality performers ready to take Gilberts/Stewart title. Burlton, Jennings, Jon Gorringe and Duncan Glen must all have a chance and the form of the returning Masters Mike Budd/Mark Greaves will be watched with interest. Overall results: 1st Nick Craig/Richard Brown Frensham Pond 6 points 2nd Craig Burlton/Andrew Bonsey Northampton 13 3rd Chris Jennings/Ed Nicklin Burghfield 14 4th Roger Gilbert/James Stewart Frensham Pond 20 5th Phil Jackson/Gerard Barron Parkstone 32 6th Jason Pyke/Ian Gregory Stokes Bay 32 7th Greg O'Brien/John Blundell Sutton 37 8th Hywel Roberts/Melissa Storey Queen Mary 44 9th Pete Vincent/Pete Cruickshank Bristol Corinthian 48 10th Tony Woods/Amanda Pierpoint Leigh & Lowton 48 11th Dave Brown/Sheena Craig Island Barn 49 12th Charlie Duschesne/Dan Sanders RORC 53 13th Robin Kenyon/Keith Bedborough Yealm 56 14th Malcolm & Martin Green RYA 59 15th Chris Hogan/Neil Hughston Port Dinorwic 61 16th Jeremy Stevens/Robin Row Penzance 71 17th Barney Goswell/Louise Heal 74 18th Dave Giles/Jared Halligan Weirwood 82 19th Hugh Botterell/Dan Bleasdale RNSA 85 20th Andy Williams/Lucy Marriott Datchet 91 21st Adam John/Sharkey Massey Tewkesbury 91 GUL RS400 Circuit standing, 1 round remaining: 1st Burlton/Bonsey 8 points 2nd Gilbert/Stewart 11 3rd Jennings/Nicklin 27 4th Craig/Bedborough 32 5th Vincent/Cruickshank 34 6th Jackson/Barron 36 7th Brown/ Craig 38 8th Giles/Harrard 42